If Jefferson Parish had a king, it might be Elton Lagasse. Serving his third term on the Parish Council, after 13 years on the School Board and nine as public schools superintendent, the 74-year-old River Ridge resident is still called “coach” by the students he used to motivate on the football field. With the bearish figure of a former player, Lagasse moves through rooms with a kingly gait. His day job involves paperwork and telephone calls, however, not scepters and thrones.

On Mardi Gras, things will change. Lagasse will step into the role of Argus, the namesake persona of Jefferson Parish’s premier Fat Tuesday parade. It rolls at 10 a.m. on Veterans Memorial Boulevard in Metairie, to the theme of “Storyteller.” Front and center will be Lagasse, tossing such throws as a “gold” doubloon stamped with his face and a party cup declaring his title. “This is almost a culmination of a career of being in the public eye,” Lagasse said. “How many people can sit up on a float and see thousands of people waving at you, ‘Throw me something!’”

With royal dignity, he mused Thursday on the comparison of his public office and his soon-to-be mythical image, and tossed out a second thought: “It’s probably easier being a king than it is an elected official. It’s strictly an honorary thing. I don’t have any more power than anyone else has in New Orleans. It’s what we call ‘pomp and ceremony.’”

Still, the role of Argus has real challenges. Along with a false beard and a wig, Lagasse will wear a heavy pendant and – most painfully – some very feminine costuming. “I never had tights on before. A lot of our friends are coming to the ball just to see me in tights.” Over the tights will go ... “I don’t know what you would call it,” Lagasse said. “It’s like a man’s dress, and there’ll be sequins and whatever stuff around the edges.”

Lagasse is not a dues-paying member of the Krewe of Argus. The krewe’s Kings Club selected him to reign because they recognized him as a natural leader, said co-captain Bob DeViney. “Argus has always selected its king from local dignitaries or business people who make an impact on the community,” said DeViney. “This was Elton’s year.”

Lagasse has long been in the public eye. Before serving as a council member, he taught in Jefferson schools beginning in 1961, was elected to the School Board in 1981 and was hired as superintendent in 1994.

In 2003 and again in 2007, he was elected to the Parish Council’s 2nd District seat. In 2011, he ran unopposed for an at-large seat, and he said he expects to run again in 2015, his last shot before term limits kicks in.

As a councilman, he said he is always running into former students – and will do so again on Mardi Gras. Likely one of them will be Bruce Netterville, a lawyer whose daughter, Diana Lynn Netterville, is the krewe’s queen this year. On another float, Lagasse’s granddaughter will ride as a maid in the royal court.

The whole shebang is a ritzy Mardi Gras change of pace for Lagasse and his family. For the decade before he was tapped to serve as Argus, Lagasse’s Lundi Gras tradition has involved serving free jambalaya to parading krewes as they prep their floats for the day ahead. And as a child, Lagasse’s tradition was simpler: He watched Mardi Gras from the crowds in Lafayette Square in New Orleans. He never dreamed, then, that he’d sit on a float above the throngs.

“It’s a once in a lifetime thing. If you had told me 50 years ago, that I’d be king of Argus? Those things don’t come into your mind,” he said.